Snapshots
by Mae Mobley
Summary: A time before and after the war that the girl on fire was okay with feeling vulnerable. Everlark. My attempt at writing a realistic everlark sex scene paired with a short, humorous galeniss scene. M for sex that isn't terribly graphic.


I hadn't learned about sex until I was fifteen years old.

I had been with Gale after we'd finished hunting, sitting in the shade of a few large trees, exhausted from the stifling heat that had been threatening to suffocate us all morning. "So, Katniss," he'd said, "did you hear that Bristel's mother is having another baby. I don't know how she'll be able to take care of seven children on two coal miners' salaries." He sighed and shook his head. Gale wasn't one to gossip, so it was a bit odd for him to be mentioning this. I guess he was probably trying to become more friends than hunting partners, but at the time I was too clueless to realize it.

I had no idea what to say, so I looked at the dirt. Of course I'd heard of pregnancy before, but I'd always been too shy to ask how it'd happened. Paired with the fact that my mother had been distant since my father had died and the fact that District 12's schools didn't offer a health class, I'd just never learned anything about it.

At that moment, though, alone with the one person I was sure wouldn't laugh at my surely stupid question, I got up the courage to ask.

"Gale?" I asked in a low voice, still studying the dirt as if it was the most interesting thing I'd ever seen.

"Hmm?" he asked. I could feel his gaze trying to meet mine, but I couldn't make myself look up. I rarely had felt as vulnerable as I had right then.

"Could you maybe, um, tell me how that... happened," I whispered in a small voice.

When he didn't answer, I looked up to see his face. His eyes studied mine, looking for a hint of humor in them, but there was no trace at all. "You mean how... babies happen?" I nodded slightly.

I remembered how odd it had sounded to me then, the concept of sex. I couldn't really fathom the fact that two people would risk bringing a tiny, vulnerable human being into a cruel, broken world, just to get a bit of pleasure or to express their love for one another.

And it was the only time I'd ever seen Gale blush.

* * *

It was a cool day in November and Peeta and I were sitting together on the sofa of the house we shared. My head was on his shoulder and we both stared at the television in front of us blankly. It was turned off, but neither of us seemed to mind as we watched the dark screen, making no effort to turn it on. Time passed slowly on our days at home, and it was impossible to measure whether the silence spanned for minutes, hours, or days. We hadn't so much as kissed since the end of the war, although we slept together every night, changed in front of each other, and bathed together, mostly because neither of us wanted to be alone and because of horrible memories that water evoked. The lack of romance was mainly my fault, because the pain that came with every previous kiss lingered in my mind. Peeta was patient with me, though, as I was patient with him on his bad days. Even without the romance between us, it was obvious that we loved each other and neither of us ever questioned the other's love.

After a long time of staring at the blank television screen, Peeta abruptly looked down at me. For a moment, I was afraid that he had just thought of something that would evoke a violent, Capitol-made memory in him and I mentally prepared to calm him, but instead he lifts my head gently from his shoulder and stands up. "Do you want to go on a walk with me?" he asked, looking down at me, "it's a nice day, we can bring some food and eat near the lake."

I was a bit startled, since he'd never expressed any interest in going anywhere near the woods or the lake. They'd only ever been my dwelling places, on the rare times that I'd leave the house alone. "Sure," I said, suddenly aware that I was more than willing to share my most private places with him. This thought frightened me a bit, but also was comforting and hopeful, the kind of hope that I hadn't felt in such a long time. We slipped on our coats and boots and Peeta grabbed enough food for the both of us, packing it into a basket and slipping it into his right hand. With his left hand he held mine as we walked out the door and toward the lake. We settled at the edge of the woods, a few yards away from the actual lake, and he laid out a blanket for us to sit on.

After we'd finished our lunch, the silence began again. We both watched the calm lake just as we had the blank television screen earlier that day. The sunset crept over the horizon, creating a sky only comparable to the vibrance of the reds and oranges of the leaves that cluttered the ground around our blanket. The silence was only broken by a roll of thunder in the sky and a downpour of rain from the dark clouds that we hadn't seen approaching. The rain was freezing, the kind of rain that came out of the sky right before it was cold enough to snow.

"Oh no!" Peeta shrieked, standing up and grabbing my arm as I tucked the blanket back into the basket. He pulled me to my feet and we ran, still holding hands, back to the house. I didn't even mind that by holding hands, I wasn't going as fast as I typically would. When we got back to the house and I shut the door behind us, we were both soaking wet. Peeta and I stood just inside the door facing each other, only inches apart, when he started laughing. It started out light and got stronger. I couldn't help but laugh a little too, which is something I hadn't done in the longest time. The laughter and the spark of happiness in Peeta made me feel warm in that moment, despite the icy water that I'd been drenched in. After he'd stopped laughing, he looked right into my eyes and said, "if I kissed you right now, would you push me away?"

It wasn't an uncommon question, but it was one that hadn't been asked in a while. All at once, I realized that, for the first time since the war ended, I wanted him to kiss me more than anything. "No, I wouldn't," I said quietly, and he brought his lips down to mine. It was short, but it caused a feeling to bubble up in me that was only vaguely familiar. He looked at me as he pulled away, studying me to see if I was okay. As if to answer him, I touched my lips to his again. This time, it started out gentle, but the need grew more and more and the kissing grew harder. The sensation that had started in my stomach spread downward, then throughout my entire body. I didn't know what this intense feeling was, but I didn't want it to stop. I dropped the picnic basket and wrapped my arms around his neck.

For the time that we were kissing, it felt as if nothing else existed and I realized that this might have been what I'd needed all along. I got warmer and warmer, and soon I was tugging off my soaking wet coat and his. When I started tugging at his shirt, he started walking forward, his lips never leaving mine, until I was stumbling backwards onto the bed. His lips momentarily left mine and he unbuttoned his shirt as I pulled my sweater over my head, revealing my plain, white bra. I suddenly had a strange regret that I hadn't worn nicer undergarments. It made me want to reach into the untouched drawer of clothes that I'd kept from my time in the Capitol, where all of the lace and silk was kept. I didn't have time to, though, as Peeta was soon removing my boots and socks as well as his own. His lips crashed into mine again as I fumbled with the button on his pants, barely able to form coherent thoughts with his lips moving from my lips to my neck, let alone remember how buttons work.

Eventually we were in just our underwear and he wrapped his arms around me, lips still on mine, trying unsuccessfully to unclasp my bra. I pulled away and laughed slightly as he blushed bright pink. I slipped off my own bra and panties, and although he'd seen me naked many times, it had never felt like this. I felt exposed and vulnerable, but somehow it didn't infuriate me as it normally would. I noticed the color of Peeta's boxer shorts, red like the passion I felt for him. Red was everything, except the pink in our cheeks and lips from our very brief breathing breaks between kisses.

There was a noticable bulge in Peeta's red boxer shorts and I blushed. Even though we'd bathed together, I wasn't sure if I'd ever really looked at his genitals. I was always very skittish about the male anatomy, so I'd always forced myself to focus _anywhere_ but there. I became very familiar with his hair in the half hour that we'd spend in the bathtub every day. He must've known that, because he didn't even look surprised at my obvious shock when he pulled his shorts down and threw them off of the bed and onto the floor, he just looked mildly amused.

"Are you sure?" he asked with concern, and for a moment I was irritated at what a good human being he was and at his impeccable sense of patience, because I just wanted give myself to him right then, but I couldn't because I needed someone to guide me, to teach me. I knew that even though it was his first time as well, he'd be more knowledgeable than me. _Twelve-year-olds_ were more knowledgeable than me.

"I think so," I said, but he must've seen a decent amount of sureness in my eyes, because he came closer to me, kissing my lips gently and leaning me backwards until I was lying down completely. He kissed from my lips, down my neck, and to my chest, over the scars that and I moaned slightly. He kept going down my stomach and below and I moaned louder, letting him know that I was alright. I wasn't worried about pregnancy, since one of the perks to having been the symbol of a very important rebellion was free birth control, a concept that was practically unheard of in pre-war District 12.

"Tell me if you want me to stop," he said, opening my legs and positioning his body over mine. I nodded slightly and he slid into me slowly. It hurt, but not more than everything else I'd been feeling since the end of the war, so it was bearable. I moaned as he pushed into me for the second time and he moaned as he came into me a few thrusts later. The feeling of him finishing inside of me was one of the strangest I've ever felt, but in a good way, I suppose. It was quick, but by the end we were both breathing heavily and, after he pulled out of me, he laid next to me, wrapping his arms around me and kissing my pink cheek as we fell asleep in each other's arms.


End file.
